Comprehension of Traditional Culture "Zhouyi" (II)-Taiji

Comprehension of Traditional Culture "Zhouyi" (II)-Taiji

First, the concept of Tai Chi

Taiji is a category used by China's ancient philosophy to explain the origin of the world. The word "Tai Chi" comes from Zhuangzi: "Tao is above Tai Chi, not high; Below six poles, not deep; Born, it will not last long; Longer than ancient times, not old. " "Too" means "knowledge"; "Extreme" means "limit"; "Tai Chi" is the limit. Extreme things must be reversed, and change will change, so the source of change is Tai Chi.

Taiji is to clarify the process of the universe from infinity to Taiji, and even the metaplasia of everything. Among them, Tai Chi is the state before heaven and earth are opened and chaos is divided into yin and yang. I ching copula: "It is easy to have Tai Chi, but there are two instruments". These two instruments are the yin and yang instruments of Tai Chi.

Taiji is an important concept and category in the history of Taoist culture in China. Yi zhuan: "it is easy to have tai chi, which is to give birth to two instruments." Two instruments give birth to four elephants, and four elephants give birth to gossip. After Zhuangzi, later generations gradually deduced the mature concept of Taiji according to the "Taiji" related to the Book of Changes, which really absorbed the essence of Zhuangzi's chaotic philosophy.

Like Zhuangzi's philosophy of chaos, Tai Chi's concept of looking at the phenomenon and essence of everything in a daze, this way of thinking itself, in fact, contains sober and wise philosophical thinking. Its ultimate goal is to hope that human activities conform to the supreme morality of Tao and the laws of nature, and are not limited by external things, and finally reach an all-encompassing peaceful and harmonious spiritual field.

The Book of Changes records that "ancient fu is the king of the world. When looking up, we can observe the images in the sky, when looking down, the method of observing the land, the culture of birds and beasts, and the suitability of the land, taking all things near and far away, which leads to rumors". It means the process of divination. One is Tai Chi, but before yarrow is separated (yarrow is a tool for divination), after yarrow is separated, two hexagrams of Yin and Yang are formed, which are called two devices. There are four possible images of two hexagrams, which are called four images. Add one to each of them and it will become gossip. The following is the process of drawing gossip. At first, it was related to astronomy, meteorology and regional direction, and later it was further explained by Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty in a philosophical way.

Taiji in Taoism generally refers to the most primitive order state of the universe, which appeared after the chaotic period (infinity) when Yin and Yang were not separated, and then formed the origin of everything (the universe). Zhuangzi and Yi Zhuan are early users of the concept of Taiji, which is generally used in cosmology and methodology. In China's ancient books, Yi has always been a philosophical work that exhausts the mysteries of heaven and earth. The analysis of divination process is basically an overview of the development of heaven and earth. Taiji gives birth to two devices, which is the process of Taiji's differentiation to form heaven and earth. Two instruments are heaven and earth, as well as yin and yang. The concept of Taiji often appears together with Yi-ology. Taoism has its own unique system, and the concept of Taiji is an important basic concept of Taoist cosmology and self-cultivation theory.

Second, Taiji Jane said

Learning from Zhuangzi, a philosophical concept is Tai Chi. Influenced by Taoism and Yin and Yang, Cohesion Upload said: "It is easy to have Tai Chi, which is based on two instruments, two instruments give birth to four elephants, and four elephants give birth to eight diagrams." He also said in Cohesive Biography: "Gossip is in the column, and like is in it. Therefore, it is very important to be in it. Combine rigidity with softness and change. "

What is Tai Chi? Philosophers have different explanations Yu Fan said, "Tai Chi is too one." Han said: "Tai Chi, nameless." Kong Ying Da said: "Tai Chi is also the beginning of Tai Yi." Su Zizhan said: "Tai Chi people have something in front of them." Zhu said: "Taiji people are rational." Lai Zhide said, "Tai Chi is extremely reasonable." Jiao Xun said: "Tai Chi is still great." Although each annotation is different, it is actually the essence of people in heaven and earth, referred to as ontology. This ontology contains endless images and endless functions, and the image function of ontology is inseparable. If you don't learn Zhouyi and understand Yi Li, you don't know that you have this body, and you don't know that everything is prepared for me, so that everything is abandoned and pursued outward, causing various disasters to yourself and the masses. If you learn to be rational, you can avoid misfortune. The greatest evil is that the problem of life and death cannot be solved, and the greatest good is to learn to be a saint. To become a saint, we must first solve the problem of life and death. According to the Analects of Confucius, when Luz asked about death, Confucius said, "If you don't know life, how can you know death?" If you want to know how to solve the problem of death, you must know the source of life, and the source of life is Tai Chi.

Tai Chi gives birth to two devices. Tai Chi is silent and motionless. It has no image, only a clean and bright body. This is inanimate reason. When you move, you show your image and use it. This is a means of making a living. Numerous images were born, but at the beginning, there were only two colors, one bright and one dark, the bright color was Yang and the dark color was Yin, so it was called Yin and Yang. As explained in Confucius' Justice, the instrument is not called two images, but only two instruments. But these two musical instruments are actually the basic structure of the four elephants and even Vientiane, which are subdivided by two musical instruments, so Vientiane has both yin and yang. Although the number of Vientiane is infinite, the basic number of couples is Yang. When Fu painted hexagrams, he invented two extremely simple paintings to represent endless image sources.

Third, Taiji Diagram Theory

There are many kinds of Tai Chi pictures, such as Zhou Dunyi's Tai Chi picture, congenital Tai Chi picture (formerly known as Nature's Picture of Heaven and Earth, commonly known as Fish's Picture of Yin and Yang), ancient Tai Chi gossip (with gossip around the congenital Tai Chi picture), Lai Zhide's Tai Chi picture, Duanmu Guohu's Tai Chi picture in Qing Dynasty, etc. Up to now, only the congenital Taiji diagram and the ancient Taiji Bagua diagram are well known. Therefore, what modern people call the Taiji diagram is the fish diagram of Yin and Yang or the natural diagram of heaven and earth, and what modern people call the Taiji Bagua diagram is the ancient Taiji Bagua diagram paradigm, and is often even referred to as the Taiji diagram for short.

Taiji map is called "the first map of China". From the beams and columns of Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple to the landmarks of Laozi Louguantai, Sanmao Palace and Baiyun Temple; From cassock to fortune teller's divination booth; From the book covers and emblems of Chinese medicine, Qigong, martial arts and China's traditional culture, to the North Korean flag pattern, the Singapore Air Force machine emblem and the Boer Medal family emblem. Tai Chi pictures have all popped up. This well-known Tai Chi map is called "Tai Chi Map of Yin and Yang Fish" because it looks like a combination of Yin and Yang fish.

Since "Taiji Map" has been popular for so long and spread so widely, naturally its origin and evolution have become the focus of people's interest. Before investigating its origin, we should first understand the relationship between the name of "Taiji Diagram" and the figure. There are two situations here. One is the same name, but it refers to different graphics. In addition to the Yin and Yang fish figures, there are five layers of figures (namely, Zhou Dunyi's Taiji), hollow circle figures, black and white semicircle figures and so on. (In fact, the latter figures are called Tai Chi much earlier than the former); One is the same figure, but with different names, such as Yin-Yang fish Taiji diagram, which was called congenital diagram, river diagram, congenital natural river diagram, congenital natural diagram and ancient Taiji diagram in the early days. The five-level Taiji diagram is also called "Infinite Diagram", "Taiji Diagram", "Taiji Diagram" and "Dandao Diagram" (of course, the two Taiji diagrams are slightly different).

In modern times, many people think that Tai Chi map originated from primitive times, and some even think that it is a gift from aliens to the earth in ancient times, or the only token left over from the last or even two or three times of civilization destruction before this human civilization. What is the basis for the evolution of Taiji diagram? Mr. Chen Lifu thinks: "The ancient Taiji map unearthed in Chinese mainland is three or four thousand years earlier than Zhouyi and Ganzhi Shu. For example, 6500 years ago (Fuxi era), the "Shuanglong Ancient Taiji Map" on a painted pottery pot with two ears unearthed in Yongjing, Shaanxi Province was drawn by the brush center, which was actually 4000 years earlier than Confucius. Many bronzes unearthed in Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty are also engraved with Tai Chi pictures of male and female Ssangyong intertwined. " Chen Lifu directly called the picture of Ssangyong winding "Ssangyong Taiji Map". The winding diagram of Ssangyong is actually the "mating diagram" of Fuxi Nuwa, the ancestor of China.

Are these figures the source of Taiji diagram? If it is only this graphic mode, it is obviously impossible to directly derive the Taiji diagram. Because similar patterns in other ethnic groups have not yet evolved into Tai Chi diagrams, such as the pattern of two snakes intertwined and mated in Babylon, and the relics of ancient Greece, ancient India, Caucasus and Asia Minor (silver ornaments, copper pots, vases, etc. ) all have similar patterns, but none of these ethnic groups have taiji diagrams.

But judging from the ideas implied in these figures, it can't be said that it has nothing to do with Tai Chi. These figures are the intersection of two pairs, or a double dragon, a double snake, or a double fish and a double phoenix, which are the products of reproductive worship in primitive society. Double stripes, or male and female (Fuxi, Nuwa), or male and female (Pisces, double snakes, double dragons, double birds); The intersection of pairwise reflects primitive people's intuitive understanding of sexual intercourse between men and women. The concept of "Yin and Yang" and the ideas of androgyny, androgyny, opposition and intersection of Yin and Yang (treatment and unity), interaction between Yin and Yang, and mutual transformation between Yin and Yang are gradually recognized from human phenomena, biological phenomena and natural phenomena such as hermaphrodite, hermaphrodite, sun and moon, which determines that China traditional culture is a culture of Yin and Yang in a sense. The Yin-Yang hexagrams and the Yin-Yang hexagrams in the Book of Changes are the symbols of Yin-Yang thoughts, and the black-and-white and the combination of head and tail of Taiji diagram are the best examples of Yin-Yang's thoughts of unity, popularity and interaction.

Fourthly, the connotation of Taiji.

1. The primitive vitality of the universe.

Don Ying Da's Yijing Justice: "Tai Chi people, heaven and earth are not divided, and their vitality is mixed." Yi Gan Wei Tai Ji holds that "tangible things are born from the invisible" and puts forward four stages to explain "Yi Tai Chi", including "There are too easy, too early, too early and Tai Su". It's too easy when there is no gas, the gas starts too early, the shape starts too early, and the quality begins with Tai Su. The state in which gas, shape and mass are mixed but not separated is called chaos. Chaos is what the ancients called vitality. Take inseparable vitality as Tai Chi, and give it true meaning. This view was common in the Han Dynasty, such as Liu Xin's "Taiji Central Vitality"; Wang Chong quoted Yi scholar as saying: "The vitality is not divided, and chaos is one". Zheng Xuan explained Tai Chi with "He Chun's Unbalanced Qi".

2. Take nihilistic noumenon as Tai Chi.

Wang Bi explained the number of Dayan in this way: "First, you don't need to' say' or use it, but you can achieve it by counting instead of counting, which is too extreme for Yi Gi. Taking "one" as Tai Chi, I think this "one" is not a number, but "nothing", which is the basis for the formation of the forty-nine policies. Han's annotation "Easy to have Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments" says: "A husband must never start, so Tai Chi gives birth to two instruments. "

3. Dayan forty-nine numbers are not divided into Tai Chi.

Cui Jing said, "Forty-nine numbers are combined but not divided, just like Tai Chi. Today is split in two, just like two musical instruments. Divide them into four numbers. One strategy at a time, so four strategies are like four times. " Cui Jing's exposition of the number of great Yan and his Taiji theory did not regard one useless number as a nihilistic entity, regarded the number of forty-nine as Taiji, and thought that gossip was included in the number of great Yan. This view is of great significance in the history of philosophy of Yi-ology, and provides a method for Yi Song to transform Han Yi's cosmogenesis theory into ontology.

4. Yin and Yang mixed regardless of Tai Chi.

Zhou Dunyi's Illustration of Tai Chi: "Infinity and Tai Chi, Tai Chi moves and produces Yang, while moving and static, static and dynamic, dynamic and static, are fundamental to each other, and Yin and Yang are separated. The two instruments are upright. "

After Zhou Dunyi, the interpretation of Taiji was divided into three schools:

(1) It's great by numbers.

Tai Chi is one, and the immobile gives birth to two, and God also; Tai Chi is divided into two parity to explain the birth of two instruments. He believes that "the heart is big" in man and "Tao is Tai Chi" in heaven and earth.

(2) Make sense and say Tai Chi.

Very reasonable, the principle of the universe is Tai Chi. Tai Chi is also reasonable. Taiji is the sum of the principles of all things in the world, and there are also Taiji principles in concrete things. So: "Everyone has the spirit of Artest, and everything has the spirit of Artest."

(3) See Tai Chi from the viewpoint of unity of opposites.

One thing and two bodies, what is great? Taiji is the foundation of the movement and change of everything in the world. It is believed that without Yin and Yang, their unity is unpredictable and their opposites are mutual. Wang Fuzhi expounded Zhang Zai's theory from the viewpoint of unity of opposites and insisted on Taiji. It is asserted that Tai Chi and the two instruments are a physical relationship, not a father-son relationship. It is considered that Taiji is the unity of Yin and Yang, with the nature of movement and the law of change. All phenomena are different manifestations of this unity of yin and yang, which gives play to the idea of "the spirit of harmony" as the origin of the world.

5. One yin and one yang is Tao, which is the explanation of Tai Chi.

So what is Tao? Refers to heaven, tunnel and humanity. Everything, everything has two sides, and it is constantly changing, but it also has a certain correlation. Heaven and tunnels have been proved and understood according to science. The key is human nature, which mainly refers to thought, and thought determines behavior and attitude. It's also about people respecting their own ideas and natural laws. Learn to control your emotions, don't have evil thoughts, and don't be afraid of evil thoughts. We work hard is the right way.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Taiji theory

Taiji is a concept of Taoist philosophy. This concept has influenced China cultural schools such as Confucianism and Taoism. Liezi talked about the five stages of Taiyi, Taishi, Taishu, Tai Su, Taiji and the universe. Zhou Dunyi, a Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty, said at the beginning of Taiji Illustration: "Wuji and Taiji." This has injected the meaning of Neo-Confucianism into the word Wuji mentioned in Laozi and Zhuangzi, and also linked the concept of Wuji with Taiji. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Golden Mirror of Medical Zong" compiled by Tai Hospital adopted five paragraphs: "Infinity is too empty to regulate qi, Tai Chi is too empty to regulate qi." Yin and yang are produced by the movement of qi, which divides heaven and earth. There is no cosmic gas, but there is cosmic gas. Formally speaking, qi is called yin and yang, that is, qi is called Tai Chi. "

1. Original meaning.

"Zhuangzi": "Avenue, above Tai Chi, not high; Below six poles, not deep; Born, it will not last long; Longer than ancient times, not old. " The Book of Changes: "It is easy to have Tai Chi, but the second instrument is born, the second instrument is born with four elephants, and the four elephants are born with gossip." Confucius' Ying Da Shu: "Taiji means that before the heavens and the earth are divided, the vitality has been mixed into one, that is, the beginning and the beginning."

2. Neo-Confucians in Song Dynasty believed that "Tai Chi" was "Li".

"Zhuzi School" Volume 75: "Taiji is just an obscure truth, which contains yin and yang, rigidity and singularity, and is everywhere." "Zhang Zizheng Zhu Meng Taihe" Qing Wang Fuzhi: "The Tao is the principle of heaven and earth, that is, the so-called Taiji."

Ding guijun

April 25(th), 2020